Using Behavioral Economics to Reduce Low-Value Care

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Pre-Operative Testing for Cataract Surgery

In brief

There is strong consensus - based on robust randomized trial data - that routine pre-operative (pre-op) testing for cataract surgery is inappropriate. Despite these widely endorsed evidence-based recommendations, most seniors undergoing cataract surgery still receive unnecessary blood testing, EKGs, and chest X-rays (CXRs); another substantial percentage even undergo nonindicated cardiac stress tests. We will integrate three new best practice alert (BPA) nudges into the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health electronic health record (EHR). The nudges are informed by behavioral economic theory and are designed to alter the choice architecture for physicians to decrease the rate of pre-op test ordering while still preserving clinician autonomy. We will conduct a pragmatic trial to evaluate whether these BPA nudges reduce low-value pre-op testing for cataract surgery.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT04104256

Run by

University of California, Los Angeles

People needed

1045

Starts

2021-06-24

Expected to finish

2023-08-14

Last updated by the study team

2024-09-19

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Patient at UCLA undergoing cataract surgery, and receives pre-operative evaluation at UCLA Health

You may not qualify if…

• Cataract surgery patients who get their pre-operative evaluation from non-UCLA physicians

Where it is running

• UCLA Health — Los Angeles, California, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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